Fiber-optic transceivers go metroNews & Analysis 1/31/2002 Post a commentFiber-optic transceiver developers are building datacom and telecom capacity into and around metropolitan-area networks (MANs) with a touch more urgency these days as the IEEE 10-Gigabit Ethernet specification nears final adoption.

Distrib rolls modular H/W platformProduct News 1/31/2002 Post a commentLooking to provide design engineers with a flexible development solution to speed design cycles and lower costs, distributor Nu Horizons Electronics Corp. has rolled out a modular hard-ware development platform that supports a variety of chip device makers and their suppliers. The initial offering features Xilinx's field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

Low-power NEC MPU now fasterProduct News 1/31/2002 Post a commentThe 64-bit VR4181A microprocessor from NEC Electronics Inc. integrates more peripherals and offers more memory than the earlier VR4181 and is said to be significantly faster.

Welsh schools get cash for scienceNews & Analysis 1/31/2002 Post a commentThe Wales Science Year initiative has awarded its first round of grants. Jane Davidson, minister for education and lifelong learning, has given the green light to 68 science projects for young people in Wales.

Symbian secures further funds for 2.5/3G OS developmentNews & Analysis 1/31/2002 Post a commentSymbian has raised a further $29.3m from its five industrial shareholders, Psion, Nokia, Motorola, Sony/Ericsson and Matsushita. The Cambridge, UK based company, which was spun out of Psion three years ago, said the additional funding would ensure that Symbian can push on and develop the next version of its operating system for mobile handsets and devices.

Tiny contact probe for 500MHz plus ICsNews & Analysis 1/31/2002 Post a commentOsaka-based Sumitomo Electric Industries has developed a contact probe with a 30µm sq tip. It is designed for ICs with pad dimensions of less than 10µm and frequencies of 500MHz and higher.

Hynix, Infineon in talks about a DRAM alliance, says reportNews & Analysis 1/31/2002 Post a commentSEOUL -- After breaking off merger talks with Micron Technology Inc. earlier this week, Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc. is now reportedly in discussions about a chip alliance with Germany's Infineon Technologies AG, according to reports from Reuters.
The report claimed that Japanese business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun quoted Infineon Chief Executive Officer Ulrich Schumacher as saying the company was in talks with Hynix about a joint venture and other potential alliances.

M-LVDS data line circuitsNews & Analysis 1/31/2002 Post a commentThe SN65MLVD20x family of multipoint-LVDS (M-LVDS) receivers provides differential signaling at speeds up to 4200 Mbps between up to 32 devices over typical distances of 30 m.

EDA execs cautiously bask in Wall Street's attentionNews & Analysis 1/30/2002 Post a commentWhile other electronics sectors have struggled, design automation vendors have maintained steady growth over the last 18 months to transform themselves from the dogs to the darlings of Wall Street, according to executives on the Electronic Design Automation Consortium's 2002 CEO Forecast panel Tuesday (Jan. 29).

PolarFab's 8-in. fab goes into production, shows flat growth in 2001News & Analysis 1/30/2002 Post a commentMINNEAPOLIS -- Silicon foundry PolarFab Inc. here announced that it has begun production in its initial 8-inch wafer fab, as previously expected.
The privately-held, pure-play semiconductor foundry also claimed that its sales were $63 million in 2001, roughly flat from 2000. While PolarFab did not release its earnings, the announcements by the foundry company were a major accomplishment, given the current and severe downturn in the IC industry.

Amkor reports loss for quarter and yearNews & Analysis 1/30/2002 Post a commentAmkor Technology Inc. reported a net loss of $137 million or 85 cents per share, including amortization charges, in its fourth quarter ended December 31. The loss was $103 million or 63 cents per share before charges, compared to a net income of $41 million or 26 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Tower Semiconductor's loss widens as sales fallNews & Analysis 1/30/2002 Post a commentTower Semiconductor Ltd., Migdal Haemek, Israel, today announced sales for the fourth quarter were $8.8 million versus $29.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2000, and $9.9 million in the immediately-preceding quarter, ended September 30, 2001.

0.10-micron technology could drive up mask costs to $2 million per set, says TSMCNews & Analysis 1/30/2002 Post a commentSAN JOSE -- While 0.10-micron process technologies will enable the development of new, complex chip designs, there could be an unpleasant surprise in store for IC makers: the cost of the lowly blank photomask for this technology could run a staggering $1.5-to-$2 million per set, warned an executive from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC).
In general, the cost of a blank photomask for a 0.13-micron design runs about $650,000 per set right now, said Shang-yi Chiang, senior vice pr

Amkor's Q4 sales jumps 5% over Q3, but Q1 could be sluggishNews & Analysis 1/30/2002 Post a commentCHANDLER, Ariz. -- Amkor Technology Inc. reported sales of $352 million for its fourth quarter ended Dec. 30, up 5% sequentially but down 45% from the like period a year ago.
The company also posted a loss of $137 million, or minus $0.85 per share, in the quarter, compared with a profit of $41 million, or $0.26 per share, for Q4 of 2000.

Suppliers' support for Rambus variesNews & Analysis 1/30/2002 Post a commentSamsung says yes. Infineon says no. Elpida says maybe. Such are the mixed messages that DRAM makers are giving on whether they will continue to deliver faster and denser versions of Rambus DRAM.

Hynix allocation move startles DRAM marketNews & Analysis 1/30/2002 Post a commentHynix Semiconductor Inc.'s move on Tuesday placing all its DRAMs on allocation was greeted with some raised eyebrows and skepticism in the industry, but also some concurrence that the memory chip supply is tightening.

TSMC demos first 0.10-micron ICs, plans to move into production in Q3 or Q4 of 2002News & Analysis 1/30/2002 Post a commentSAN JOSE -- During the DesignCon 2002 conference here today, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) announced that it has demonstrated the first chips, based on its new, leading-edge 0.10-micron (100-nm) process technology.
The silicon foundry giant is also accelerating the development of its 0.10-micron technology by moving the process into initial production by the third or fourth quarter of 2002.

3Dlabs pushes programmable and embedded graphicsNews & Analysis 1/30/2002 Post a commentHigh-end graphics designer 3Dlabs Inc. Ltd. is driving an effort to enable a new class of programmable graphics processors with an upgraded version of the OpenGL application programming interface in a chip it may introduce later this year.

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